Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s Speech at the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention - 2019 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Prime Minister of Mauritius Your Excellency Praveen Jagannath ji, his wife Smt. Kavita Jagannath ji, Governor of UP Shri Ram Naik ji, my cabinet colleague Sushma Swaraj ji, Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath ji, Chief Minister of Haryana Shri Manohar Lal ji, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat ji, my cabinet colleagues and my dear brothers and sisters from all over the world who have gathered here in Kashi.
First of all, I welcome all of you. You all have come here drawn by the fragrance of the ancestral soil. My best wishes in advance to all who are going to receive the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman tomorrow. Today is also a special day for me. As Sushma ji was saying, I have appeared before you as the host being an MP of Kashi besides being the Prime Minister of the country. I hope that the blessings of Baba Vishwanath and Mother Ganga be upon you all.
Friends,
Before starting my conversation with you today, I would like to convey my condolences on the demise of Dr. Sri Sri Shivakumar Swamiji. I had the opportunity to seek blessings from him many times at Sri Siddha Ganga Math in Tumkur. Whenever I used to meet him, he used to love me like his son. He used to shower his blessings on me. The departure of such a great sage, Maharishi is very sad for all of us. The nation will always remember his contribution towards human welfare. I pay my homage to him respectfully. I pay my tributes to him.
Brothers and sisters,
Atal Bihar Vajpayee ji had started this campaign of dialogue with all the Indians settled around the world. This is the first Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan after Atal ji's departure. On this occasion, I pay my respects to Atal ji and salute him for this great idea.
Friends,
All of you are in Kashi and so I can see a similarity between Kashi and all of you. The city of Banaras has been acquainting the world with India’s cultural, spiritual and knowledge traditions since time immemorial. You are also disseminating the energy of the land of India to the world by keeping India and Indian-ness in your hearts. Friends, I consider you as the Brand Ambassadors of India, as well as representatives of India's strengths, capabilities and characteristics. That is why you have given a sense of belonging to the society of the country in which you are now living. You have enriched the culture and economy there. You have spread our family values and the Indian philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'. In the countries where you are located, you are seen in leadership role in almost every area of society. Mr. Praveen Jagannath ji is leading Mauritius with complete dedication. Moreover, many countries like Portugal, Trinad, Tobago and Ireland have received leadership from competent people like him whose roots are in India.
Friends,
With the support from all of you, in the last four and a half years, India has taken a big step towards attaining its natural place in the world. Earlier people used to say that India would never change. We have changed this mindset. We have brought in the change.
Friends,
The world is listening to our suggestions and is paying attention to our words with complete sincerity. The world is recognizing India's contribution to the protection of the environment and the progress of the world. Receiving the Seoul Peace Prize, along with the United Nations' biggest environmental award ‘Champions of the earth’ is a result of the same.
Friends,
Today India is in a position to lead the world in many respects. International Solar Alliance i.e. ISA is one such platform. Through this initiative, we want to take the world towards 'one world, one sun, one grid'. It is also a part of our goal under which we are seeking solutions to India's problems that can solve even the problems of the other countries. We are working with a 'local solution, global application' approach. I want to place before you a picture of what the country has achieved in the last four and a half years, following the formula of 'reform, perform, transform' and 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas'.
Today, India is the world's fastest growing economic power. In sports too we have started to become a major power. Today large and modern resources are being made for infrastructure, while records are also being made in the field of space.
Today, we are the world's largest start-up eco system and the world's largest health care scheme, Ayushman Bharat is also being implemented. Today, under 'Make in India', our youth is manufacturing mobile phones, cars, buses, trucks, trains at a record level, while the agricultural fields are producing food grains at record level. Let me give you an example.
Friends,
Many of you must have heard one thing from one of the former Prime Ministers of our country regarding corruption. He said that only 15 per cent of the money that the central government sent from Delhi reached the people. If one rupee was sent by the central government of Delhi, then only 15 paise reached the village; 85 paise used to vanish into thin air. This was said by a former Prime Minister of our country. For so many years, the party which ruled the country had given the country this system! He had accepted the truth even as he was the Prime Minister! But sadly, even after 10-15 years of rule, no attempt was made to stop this loot, this leakage. The malady was detected and even accepted, but nothing was done in the direction of treatment. No thought was given towards its treatment. The middle class of the country had been paying tax sincerely and this loot of 85 per cent continued.
Friends,
Now I want to inform you about today's scenario as well. We have eliminated 100% of this loot by using technology. In the last four and a half years, about 5 lakh 80 thousand crore rupees, that is, about 80 billion dollars have been given by our government directly to the people under different schemes, transferred to their bank accounts. Some have been given this amount for house, some for education, some for scholarship, and some for gas cylinder while some for food grains. Now you make a guess, if the country continued to follow its old ways, even today, out of this 5 lakh 80 thousand crore rupees, more than 4.5 lakh crore rupees would have been leaked. If we had not changed the system, this amount would have been looted in the same manner as the former Prime Minister had told us.
Friends,
This reform could have taken place earlier but there was no intention, no willingness, and it seemed difficult to expect a policy. Our government is now walking in the direction of providing every aid by directly transferring the amount to the beneficiary's bank account under the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme. I will give you another figure. In the last four and a half years, our government has identified about 7 crore fake people and removed them from the system. These 7 crore people were those who were never born, who were not really there, but these 7 crore people were taking advantage of government facilities. They existed only on papers, grew up only on papers and continued to take the benefits. Just imagine, the number of the people only on papers was greater than the population of Britain, France, and Italy. We had people here who existed only on papers and they used to get the benefits of government provisions. Our government has removed these 7 crore fake people. This is a glimpse of the change that has started to sweep the country in the last four and a half years.
Friends,
This is just a small glimpse of the new confidence of New India and of the massive changes occurring in the country. This is the result of the resolve of 130 crore Indians to restore India's glorious past. And I want to assert very proudly today that you are also involved in this resolution.
Friends,
The whole effort of the government is to ensure that all of you stay happy and be safe. During the last four and a half years, more than 2 lakh Indians in distress have been assisted in different countries of the world through the efforts of the government. Besides your social security, the government is trying to simplify all the processes related to passports, visas, PIOs and OCI cards. A new step has also been taken for NRIs a few months back. Our embassies and consulates across the world are being linked with the Passport Sewa Project. This will create a centralized system connected to the passport service for all of you. Rather, we have moved a step forward by attempting to release chip based E-passports.
Friends,
The rules related to passports as well as visas are also being simplified. By introducing the facility of e-visa, your time is also being saved and the hassles have also been reduced. Steps are being taken to remove the problems, if any in the system. Many of you will also be aware that our government has also made the process of converting PIO cards to OCI cards easy. Friends, even though you are far away from your soil, but your active participation in the creation of New India is extremely important and it should be increased continuously. Your contribution is very important in the changes that are taking place in India. New opportunities are being created. In this changing India, you can play a major role in research and development and innovation. The government is also trying to bring India's start-ups and NRI mentors together on a single platform. Defence manufacturing can also be an important sector for you.
Brothers and sisters,
The Pravasi Tirtha Darshan Yojana is being launched to strengthen your connection with your spiritual and cultural heritage besides boosting the economy and ensuring the security of Mother India. I have said this before on this forum, and today I want to reiterate that you should inspire at least five non-Indian families around you from the country you live in to come to India. Your effort will play an important role in boosting tourism in the country. Similarly, you should also consider about how you will take Gandhiji's ideas and words on his 150th birth anniversary this year to other people in the place you are living. Recently, a wonderful experiment was conducted in many countries of the world under the leadership of Sushma ji. All our Embassies in different countries requested the artists of those countries to sing 'Vaishnav jana to tene kahiye' - Gandhi ji's beloved hymn on Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary. All videos are available on YouTube. You will also be surprised to see how foreign citizens and foreign artists are singing 'Vaishnav jana to tene kahiye' with devotion. In a way Gandhi is global and we all can feel this. And so, if you want to organize some special programme, then the Embassy of India will also come to your aid with all possible help. This year we are also celebrating the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. There should also be some plans and arrangements in the countries you live in regarding the way by which we can take Gurubani to the people of other countries and make them acquainted with the rich cultural heritage of India. Friends, I am just putting these things in front of you as a suggestion. I know that many of you have been doing this already, but there is such a great affection with you all that I am not able to stop myself.
I would also like to specially congratulate the Government of Uttar Pradesh today. Usually if a State has to organize such a big event like Pravasi Bharatiya Divas wherein so many guests from around the world are going to come, then that state has to work very hard and plan a lot for the same. It takes almost a year. And after the programme, one year is spent in recovering from the exhaustion. I congratulate Uttar Pradesh for organizing an event as big as Kumbh. With such a big system in place, it takes 2-3 years of continuous work to prepare for the Kumbh Mela. And I was hesitant as the Uttar Pradesh was already making arrangements for the Kumbh Mela and the government machinery was busy in it. 10 crore people are expected to attend Kumbh. In such a scenario, I thought whether to organize this programme in Kashi or not. I was hesitant, but I heartily congratulate Yogi ji, his entire team, the administration and the government of Uttar Pradesh that he has organized two such big events together. It has made the world aware of the fact that the government of the state, the bureaucracy of Uttar Pradesh and the officials of Uttar Pradesh are also no less than anyone in the world. And that's why I give him special thanks.
I want to bow my head to the people of Kashi, because I have also done Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Gujarat. As the Chief Minister of Gujarat or as the Prime Minister today, probably I am one such person in India who has been present in almost all Pravasi Bharatiya Divas programmes. I used to be present there even when I was the Chief Minister, and of course also after becoming Prime Minister. Only once I attended the event through video conference, otherwise I am present physically. I have watched so many programmes. I was also a host in Gujarat, but the way Kashi did not allow this programme to become a government programme and instead made it a programme of the public and the way people of Kashi made it their programme is really commendable. Nearly four hundred guests are staying with various families. The ambience of the tent city here is beautiful. I was told that many people, who had been staying in hotels, left the hotel and came to enjoy the tent city to have a new experience. I believe and I have been watching continuously for the last two months that Kashi residents have made Kashi a Global Headquarters. Such an atmosphere has been created that every resident of Kashi is treating the guests as his/her family's guest. I have never seen such an atmosphere before in Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas Conferences, which the Kashivasis have shown. And so I bow especially to the people of Kashi. I heartily congratulate the local administration as well as the officials here for organizing and running such a large programme on their own. And I also congratulate the leadership of Sushma ji and her entire team for the endeavour. If the pride of Kashi increases, my happiness as the Member of Parliament of this place too increases by four times.
You have worked hard, you have made plans, you have sweated it out, you have worked day in and day out without sleep or stopping, but the people are praising me. It is your love, your hard work, due to which it has become possible and therefore as a Member of Parliament of Kashi, I have a special satisfaction today and I am confident that my Kashi will once again find a place in the hearts of the people around the world through you and will make everyone feel like coming to Kashi. Finally, once again I express my heartfelt gratitude to you all for coming to Kashi. Have a pleasant stay in India. With the same expectation, I thank you very much. I have been doing programmes for the past one or two years for my personal satisfaction and not as a PM or as an MP. In India, March is a kind of exam month and exams for class 10th and12th means that there is a tense atmosphere throughout the year in the families. Everyone wants his/her child to get good marks in 10th and 12th exams. So, there is a tense atmosphere. So I always try to ensure that before the exam I can communicate with all the children, their parents, their guardians, their teachers and make them understand that exam is not a crisis. I am glad that on 29th January I am going to interact with the people and their children. This time people will be able to connect not only from the whole country but also from abroad through the Narendra Modi App and through video. I am going to communicate with crores and crores of families regarding exam warriors. I am going to talk to the children on January 29 at 11 am about all the methods to ensure that the stress of the exam does not bother the children. I am sure that you will also inform your family members if they are also dealing with exams. Then they too can take advantage of it.
I once again express my heartfelt gratitude for this wonderful plan and also to our friend Praveen Jagannath ji who has come here with his family and has given his time and has graced the occasion. His father has played a huge role in the making of Mauritius. In a way, he is the architect of modern Mauritius. He is equally loved by all of us. Recently, his father had especially come with his family to visit Kashi. Today Praveen ji has come here with his family and has brought Kavita ji here. I believe their affection towards India is increasing day by day. He has given his precious time and has graced the occasion; I thank him for the same. I once again thank you very much. My best wishes to you all.